F is for Fiddlehead: A New Brunswick Alphabet

F is for Fiddlehead: A New Brunswick Alphabet — page 5
New Brunswick or Nouveau-Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada About 33 of the people speak French as their first language Acadians are the French-speaking descendants of the first European settlers Acadian settlers were caught in the struggle for power between the French and British In 1713 France lost most of its Acadian land to Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht When war broke out again the British fearing that the Acadians would side with the French expelled them from the colony In 1755 thousands of Acadians were deported to England or to British colonies Some went to present-day Louisiana where they helped to create the Cajun culture taken from the word Acadian Years later some of them returned and now live mainly in the northern and eastern regions of the province the largest area known as the Acadian Peninsula Acadians celebrate and share their heritage through festivals festivals and events They have their own flag blue white and red with a yellow star and anthem which were chosen at the Acadian convention of 1884